Got a big family?

My grandad was one of 11 brothers - to me - thats crazy - and I never met any of them..

 

my father was one of ten kids whom then had 59 children amongst the ten....

his father one of 13, his mother one of 12 ...

needless to say when i was young family reunions were huge



my mothers family was large but not that large ,,,

 

i'm only one of 4, but people around here seem to think my fam's pretty darn big. but 13..woah...

i want a lot of kids someday, though..

oh, and my grandmother was one of 11, most of whom i've met

 

That's what I want to know. And even more, how do they afford those big families? It seems like they just keep on procreatin' and the money drops outta the sky... Makes NO sense.

 

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Well no - I don't understand the old days - my grandfather was a builder.Unless there was alot of disease around then - or maybe it was lack of contraception - or maybe it was cos a war was on - I always remember at school they said that when the 2nd world war was announced to be over that people were apparently reported to be having sex in the streets - complete strangers - I always had this theory that in the face of danger your sex drive becomes intensified - the natural instinct to procreate when faced with extinction - like if you've ever drunk quite alot and you wake up in bed with a girl and a terrible hangover - yeah you might feel terrible but boy are you in the mood for shaggin'! - Just cos you've stepped a little closer to death..maybe.. not that thats any reason to drink.Maybe then it was more a sign of machismo.... no good asking me - I've taken a vow of celibacy - I don't mind the sex - s'just the rest of it I've given up.I tried.....haha

 

Grow lots of vegetables.. Get a few chickens... Have an iron goddess for a wife...

 

Life in a Large Family
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?


You know you have a large family when you go to the store and you see people's heads bobbing up and down as they attempt to inconspicuously count the members of your family. Ever gone to Wal-Mart or some other store for a family picture...with 9 people in the family...photographers start pulling their hair out trying to fit us all in.

or... You're all out somewhere and people invariably ask one of the following questions:

Are they all yours? We're asked this very regularly!
(We had fun with this one...)

Same marriage...or same mom & dad
(Yup...as far as I know)

And you birthed them all?
(yup, all of 'em!!)

I could *N-E-V-E-R* handle all those kids!
(O my, who said we could!)

What kind of job do you have???
(If they only knew!!)

Are you Mormon? Catholic? Crazy??
(well, dad was raised in Mormon family & I'll admit we are both crazy...but what does that have to do with it)

I wanted more kids but I have terrible labours and so I can't!
(hmmmmm...then they about faint when I say 1 son was born at home)

Don't you know what causes that!?!?
(I sometimes used to *dread* my ex-husband's answers ;-) !!)

We'd have more kids, but we can't afford them.
(by today's standards Donald Trump can't afford 7 kids...so if u wait till u can afford something, then you'll never get it.)


Some of my fave comments were...
#1 Guess u didn't have cable
#2 Boy, the winters must have been cold up north
#3 I bet I know what your fave hobby is...HaHa

For those...no we spent years without cable, but does that mean people with cable don't have kids???
If kids were only made during the cold season...then nobody would have a birthday from March-June. HELLO, 2 of my kids were born in March & June.
#3 why is it that if u have a bunch of kids, other people think u get screwed every time u can? Does that mean people with only 1 or 2 kids become a nun and never have sex again?


Over the years, the kids have had different opinions about being in a large family....Think they have all daydreamed about how wonderful it would be if they were an only child. But then leave a child home alone for to long & they go stir-crazy without their siblings around.
They can complain about never having brand-name fancy clothes for school or some 7-course gourmet dinner....but when given the opportunity to help someone less fortunate then themselves, they have many times gone without just to help out others.

 

Well - I'm not a parent because it looks like such a difficult job to me - I know people say there is no instruction book - and I'd be worried all the time I think unless you mellow out as time goes by - I know my dad did - just as soon as we'd all left home! Then he kind of turned from tough warehouse nut to being little old mr father christmassy.And now he's like a n old wise smiley dog.I tried parenting someone elses kids - but there were far too many issues before I even got there to really understand what was going on - they were teenagers and man - I thought I was crazy at that age! - I was an angel by comparison!!

 

Your post was awesome, squawky! I love insights into big families like that. I'm an only child so I always wonder what it would have been like to have a big family.

So... What kind of job DO You have? Come on, tell me!!

 

I'm sure he'll be a balanced,well adjusted individual who will cruise on through.. - cool mother.or mum.or mom? or even mama!

 

This is my son Ryan...the little guy who was born at home 10 1/2 yrs ago. There was a pretty big garden, so he set up a roadside stand to sell the extra squash & zucchini.
My ex and I have had different types of jobs over the years...for a long time I stayed home with the kids while only the ex worked building foundations for homes or cutting lumber & firewood along with TONS of odd-jobs in the neighborhood. He did take a couple different jobs at a factory during the winter months.
I personally sold Avon, babysat other kids, but didn't actually "work" until I was pregnant with 4th child and then I went to McDonald's.
As the kids got older they learned to split & stack firewood, paint houses, mow lawns, babysit,...stuff that neighbors were willing to pay for. Kids are also great at using the "barter system"...trading whatever service was needed for a box of treasures.

 

My mum comes from a family of 5 children and my dad come from a family of 7 children. Don't ask me how many aunties/uncles/cousins I got. I don't know half of them!

 

Maybe if adoption didn't take 50 years and 85 million dollars, some of those big families wouldn't be adding so much to the population and would instead be taking in some kids.

 

my wife comes from a small family ...only 18 kids ............mother in law had 7 boys before she had a girl .......now she has 7 girls and 4 more boys .......i was hoping for a large family too but the wife put on the brakes at 3

 

Only child here, but my grandad was the youngest of eleven, so as a kid I had a huge extended family. I remember great aunt Ellen kept an open house, and I couldn't figure out who all the people were, so many comings and goings. They all got together for weddings and such and had a right old knees up. Cousin Stanley I remember well, he'd come for visits from the States and always gave me a dollar.

They're all scattered now, but just recently I discovered I'm related to one of my neighbours. Her grandad was my grandads nephew, don't know what that makes us. Small world!

 

Well I have 9 brothers and sisters myself.

Me? I only want one or two. Much less chaos.

 

I had always wished I had more siblings. It was only my little sister and I, and we were 9 years apart.

Me, it's my husband and our three children. I'd love to have more if I could because I adore children, but my body can't withstand another pregnancy. I had too many severe complications from having my twins that nearly snuffed the life right out of me. Sooo...three is our magic number. Someday I'd like to become a foster parent, once my own children have grown up more.

 

my dad has 6 brothers and sister who all live in different countries and im not even gonna try guessing how many aunts/uncles or cousins he has.it's ridiculousi only have a younger brother and an older sister.quite a difference.id prefer to have a small close family though.im only hoping to have one or two kids.